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Authored by: fluk3 on May 26, '06 11:16:21PM

Ow my eyes! Too much white. And is the text blue? At least make it black.

Seriously, as a graphic designer foro 12 years, I have to say this is murder on the
eyes.

I don't mean ugly, I mean hard to read. At least make the text black so there is
better contrast. I'm getting 11pt veranda blue on white. Very painful.

No offense.



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We're back!
Authored by: mark hunte on May 27, '06 12:37:04AM

I like it, much crisper.

Cheers

---
mh



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mostly positive
Authored by: sjk on May 27, '06 03:51:03PM
I like it, much crisper.

I agree, Mark. Definitely "much crisper" on my 12" iBook display, where I immediately noticed text was comfortably readable without using Make Text Bigger (command-+) in Safari. The white doesn't seem "too much" on that system with the brightness down while on battery; it's harsher on my iMac with higher brightness.

I regularly visit Apple/Mac-related sites where text/background combinations are "murder" (as fluk3 might say :-)) compared to here, e.g. the grey-on-grey on MacUpdate product info pages. Please don't do that! Apparently some web designers never view their pages at different resolutions and screen brightnesses.

The search changes finally make it possible to browse beyond the first page of results when listing my own posts. Hurray!

A few dislikes:

• Removal of blockquote tag, which I often use to give context to my reply for the sake of people who don't use the threaded or nested comment view
• The infrequently used "Report abuse" link is a misplaced target between the "Reply to This" and Permanent links
• The masthead graphic looks even tackier now, as adrianm mentioned

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mostly positive
Authored by: robg on May 27, '06 05:03:01PM
Removal of blockquote tag, which I often use to give context to my reply for the sake of people who don't use the threaded or nested comment view
Whoops. That's back now, as you can see :).
The infrequently used "Report abuse" link is a misplaced target between the "Reply to This" and Permanent links
Fixed. I moved the permalink next to the Reply button, with Report on the right side.
The masthead graphic looks even tackier now, as adrianm mentioned
I am *very* open to suggestions and redesigns. The only thing I'd rather not lose is the font face and general layout of the letters -- it's about the closest thing we have to a visual identity of any sort, since we don't have a logo.

-rob.

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mostly positive
Authored by: sjk on May 27, '06 10:00:04PM
Thanks for returning blockquote.
I moved the permalink next to the Reply button, with Report on the right side.
Probably better, though maybe "Report abuse" could be distinct from the other links, e.g. right-justified at the margin? If it's possible, moving it to the box as the subject/author might make sense because the report would be related the author. Point is that it's rarely used (hopefully!) so it needn't be near any other links that are used more often where it might be accidentally clicked.

My comment about the masthead graphic was probably an unnecessary acknowledgment of adrianm's observation. It's not so bad that redesigning should be a priority, especially compared with "usability" issues (e.g. my link placement suggestion above). Heck, and for me it's usually quickly out of sight after vertical scrolling. :-)

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We're back!
Authored by: robg on May 27, '06 05:11:55AM

As I said, "and some will hate it." :) I am working on the replacement themes which more closely match the old ones. I'll also keep my eye on the feedback, both here and via email, and make tweaks to the current theme based on the majority of opinion -- which so far (limited sample) seems to be positive.

regards;
-rob.



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We're back!
Authored by: Anonymous on May 27, '06 06:04:00PM

Got to admit, I'm really, really, REALLY looking forward to the ability to return to the old theme. Not a fan of the current theme (no offense, Rob).



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We're back!
Authored by: robg on May 27, '06 06:50:14PM

None taken. The theme won't be identical to the old one, but will hopefully have enough carryover for those who prefered it (assuming you're speaking of Classic, the old default "dark blue" look).

-rob.



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Authored by: LoadStar on May 28, '06 11:09:36PM

Yeah, I've gotta say, I'm not just in the "hate it" camp - I'm in the "really, really, REALLY hate it" camp.

I mean, the colors seem just randomly picked. There's the various shades of blue that were inherited from the old site. Those work. Then there's grey, which works pretty well with blues. But then you have peach and lemon yellow, which don't work at ALL with blues, and then maroon colored text in the peach area. It's like a "technicolor yawn" as my co-worker refers to... well, never mind.

Then, there's the sea of white. Lots of white space works well on print. Not so much on the computer screen, because it just makes the whole site "glow" and become rather hard to read. Additionally, at first I thought that I had accidentally ad-blocked a background image or something... the site looks almost half-finished with all the white.

The layout of the site is fine. The colors, though... dude, you've gotta get someone with a good sense for compatible colors to help you out. :(



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We're back!
Authored by: robg on May 29, '06 04:52:39AM

Themes are coming, and I predicted a vocal group would really hate the design. Seemingly, though, the majority have found it more pleasing than the old, so I'm happy with the design. And I can only assume you have similar feelings for all the major Mac sites, since they basically share a similar design -- white area with text on the left, block of stuff on the right with a different color background. And they have (gasp!) a similar amount of whitespace, so I don't think i'm out in the open on this look.

As for the colors in the header, I didn't want to use an "all blue" layout up there, as then the header vanishes. At one point, I had a much more subtle toolbar below the logo. When I did, I would routinely get "I don't see where to submit a hint or get to the search page," etc. emails. Hence the yellowish tone and red text for the key areas of the site.

If you care enough to complain, and have a wonderful sense of design, by all means feel free to send me a JPEG of your proposed replacement -- I've admitted that I'm not a designer since the day I launched the site. I welcome input, but any time I've asked a critic for a better look, it seems I never receive any alternatives.

regards;
-rob.



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Authored by: outZider on May 27, '06 03:38:41PM

As a web developer, I invite you to "suck it up" and "deal with it", as the design works just fine.



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